The Secret
by EmpressAuthor
Summary: The rating may change, but for now, we'll leave it as is. What if Shuten had a child noone knew about and the descendent was someone we all know and love? This is not a Shuten/Nasuti fic or a Shuten/Kayura fic. Please review
1. Shuten ponders, Shu celebrates

The Secret  
  
Summary: (AU, two years after the last battle with Talpa. Everyone is within two years of each other and Nasuti is the same age as the Troopers) Ever since the first battle against the troopers, Shuten has been keeping a secret from everyone.A secret that could change someone's life. That someone is Nasuti, and he never got a chance to tell her. Could a break in the barriers between dimensions give him that chance? Or will a new threat steal the moment away once again?  
  
Disclaimer: If I owned Ronin Warriors, Samurai Troopers, or any of the characters or ideas that made up the original story- Kayura would be 17 and the troopers would be 18, Shuten would not have died, neither would the Ancient, and there would be no need to say "Alternate Universe" whenever someone wishes to make it so.  
  
Author's note: This is the first attempt at an anime related fanfic of any kind by the side known as Marie. More on that later.  
  
The Secret  
  
Shuten walked the gardens of the Spirit realm. This wasn't the same realm the spirits of the Dynasty went to rest; it was a different one entirely. Had Anubis died in the human realm, he would have been able to live out life in the Nether Realm. But a human who dies in the Nether Realm, and is a human that has lived there for a long time as well, that person's soul goes to another spirit realm where only those with the will and power to reach him may communicate. Of his friends still among the living, only Kayura and Byakuen had that capability. Ryo was fast gaining the power, but could only project his image and wave at this point. And so, because of this, Shuten had yet to share his secret with anyone and he hoped it was not too late.  
  
"Oh Nasuti," he murmured. "I hope nothing ill befalls you before I can tell you." From the moment he had first seen her he had known. He had fought the knowledge tooth and nail to prevent acknowledging his feelings. It would have spelled a much sooner end than the one that had befallen him. Now, with the disturbances he had been feeling lately, he wondered if he had made the right choice in not telling.  
  
In the mortal realm.  
  
If one could call chaos and mayhem before the hour of noon normal, then they might be either one sandwich short of a picnic, or a frequent visitor/resident of the Yagyu mansion. Not yet even 10am on a Saturday, certain members could not contain their enthusiasm.  
  
"Ahhhh! My first day as a high school graduate!" Shu took a deep breathe. "Can ya just feel how different morning feels when you don't have to worry about homework that's due on Monday? The sweetness in the air? The smell of freedom from crusty teachers?" His friend, Shin, chuckled from where he stood at the stove cooking breakfast with the help of their other friend and landlady, Nasuti Yagyu. For all they cared, Shu could shout his joy to the heavens and beyond for as long as he wanted. He had yet to complain about hunger pains since he had begun and they were hoping he would stay that way until they were done. Nasuti brushed a lock of auburn hair from her face and turned to Shu.  
  
"Since you're so energetic this morning," she said with a smile. "You can set the table." Amused blue eyes met horrified brown ones as Shu tried to come up with an excuse to weasel out of the chore.  
  
"How about this Shu, we'll double your serving." Shin couldn't help but join in. Teal eyes winked at Nasuti as he tried to keep from laughing. Shu almost never turned down more food that he didn't have to beg his friends for. Unfortunately, Shu also liked to use any way possible to get out of doing chores he found boring. After a few moments though, Shu's eyes lit up.  
  
"I'll do it!" he cried. Nasuti nodded and was about to hand him the dishes when he reached behind her to lock an arm around Ryo's neck as he entered the kitchen. "So long as my good buddy, Ryo, helps, too." Ryo blinked in confusion.  
  
"N-Nani?" he asked. More laughter burst from the mouths of the other two people present.  
  
"Looks like Shu has fooled someone into helping him with a chore again." The amused tone announced that Seigi had awakened. Jun was not far behind. School was out for everyone, so Jun was spending part of his vacation with his friends. Walking over to Shin, the younger boy took a sniff.  
  
"Hey, breakfast smells great! How long until it's done?" At 12 years old, Jun was still young enough to get away with certain childlike behaviors, such as being impatient for food. Shin decided this would be a perfect way to get at Shu for trying to get around his chores again. "It will be done in a few, but here, have a muffin and tell me what you think. Nasty and I have been working on a new recipe." Shu's eyes became watery as he gazed longingly at the muffin. Unfortunately, he still had Ryo in a headlock and was squeezing the air out of him as he gazed.  
  
"Need. Air. Can't Breathe. Help!" Ryo weakly gasped. His face was almost the same color of his eyes before Seigi managed to pry Shu's arm off. "Gasp! Thanks man, I owe you one!" Ryo said. Seigi nodded then took a seat at the table.Or he would have had the doorbell not rung. Sighing, Seigi paused in mid sit down, and then went to get the door.  
  
"Who would be visiting at this time of day?" he wondered. Just as he reached it, something landed on the porch with a loud thud. From the string of curses that followed, Seigi was able to identify one of the visitors as Anubis. If Anubis was there, then at least one of the other Nether World dwellers was there as well. "Better set some more places at the table, Shu!" Seigi called before opening the door. Lady Kayura, Byakuen, and Rajura stood in front of the door. Seigi blinked when he noticed Byakuen. It wasn't that he was surprised to see the white tiger; he was just used to him entering through the back door. The trio stepped through the door allowing Seigi to see the source of the cursing-Naaza and Anubis lay in a jumble, trying to untangle themselves from each other. Seigi turned to the people in the living room and raised an eyebrow. Rajura looked at the ceiling, Byakuen went into the kitchen, and Kayura shrugged.  
  
"So I've still got a few kinks to work out on the instant transportation part. Big deal." She said tartly. "IS Touma up yet? I've got good news and bad news."  
  
TBC..  
  
AN: So what do you think Shuten's secret is? Yes, I do realize that leaving it like that is probably a major tease, but I have class in a few and I promise to try and write more later today. But the amount I write and the quality depends on reviews, so please let me know what you think, Jan e Marie, The Empress half of Empress Author. 


	2. Agenda for the day: Feed Kayura

The Secret  
  
Author's note: In an effort to limit the amount of space used up for thank yous, I write individual emails to the people that review (especially those that give good advice). Any flames that are based on the fact that you don't like my penname or just to be plain mean will be ignored. With that in mind, I would like to thank Max, Nagia, and Rouge Ronin for their tidbits of advice. PSBe sure to swing by the original fiction section and check out the humble beginnings of our other story, "Impossible".  
  
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the idea behind this story. If any miscellaneous characters pop up (i.e. some old lady on the side walk gives them a city map.) I might own those.  
  
Agenda for the day: Feed Kayura  
  
At the words 'bad news' a groan was heard from the dining room.  
  
"Aw man!" Shu cried. "Just one vacation without anyone trying to take over the world, is that to much to ask? One summer where I don't have to worry about someone trying to kill me or steal my armor, ya know? Please Kayura, how about we let Super Man or someone other super hero handle this one?" If Kayura had been in any other type of mood, she would have laughed. Shu was so cute when he was upset. If she wasn't in a bad mood already, she would almost agree with Shu on this one. But Kayura had already had to put up with losing her sleep because of the vision that had sent her to the Ronin's home, going through the process of waking Rajura, Naaza, and Anubis, then had to listen to THEIR bitching and moaning. The cherry on top had been when Naaza suggested they all travel in separate groups, to insure they all arrived in one piece. Now, Kayura was just tired. She hadn't even had time to grab something to eat and she was starving. Translation, Shu had picked the wrong time to open his mouth.  
  
"Look, Hardrock," she gritted before Shin shoved a full plate into her hands and pointed to the dining room. "Don't worry; it's not as bad as you think." She finished sweetly. Nasuti handed her a cup of tea to go with her food then poked her head into the living room.  
  
"Someone go wake up Touma, please?" Four heads all turned to look at each other before Naaza solved the problem for them.  
  
"Why thank you for volunteering, Rajura. With your illusions, I'm sure you'll think of something creative." Rajura could only blink. Nasuti smiled and thanked him before disappearing back into the kitchen. Rajura looked towards the dining room only to hear.  
  
"And don't even THINK about asking me for help." Sighing he walked up the stairs as if he were going to his own beheading. Everyone downstairs was silent. Moments later a loud scream was heard, followed by the sound of running feet. Touma ran down the stairs, nearly colliding with Seiji. Grabbing his friend by the collar, he began to shake the blonde as he babbled.  
  
"Seiji there's a.and it's got the hugest tail you've ever seen and I'd swear.You gotta help me kill it!" Seiji was trying hard to keep a straight face while behind him, Naaza and Anubis failed miserably. Touma turned eyes as blue as his indigo hair to them. "You think my nearly being killed by a rabid 200 pound, 5 foot rabbit is funny? I'll never be able to watch Loony Toons again!" This caused everyone to burst into laughter at Touma's expense. Noticing the time on a nearby clock, Touma did the math and figured out that he had been duped. "RAJURA!!!!!" The white haired man held his hands up.  
  
"Not I," he said. "I was down here the whole time. And before you even think it, I like to watch my handy work." Everyone besides Touma tried not to blink. Obviously this Rajura was a fake and the real one was in hiding. "Maybe you've been watching that movie again. The one about the guy who had the invisible friend?" Touma had recently (four months ago) taken everyone to a film festival in Tokyo. Since then, he had become obsessed with old American films.  
  
"You mean Harvey!" Jun called from the kitchen. "You have been watching that one a lot, Touma." Touma was at a loss for words. He finally decided that since whatever dream he had had was not going to allow him to go back to sleep, he might as well grab breakfast. "Maybe Shu hasn't gotten to it yet." He thought. Passing through the dining room, he saw Ryo helping Shu set the table while Kayura ate. His two comrades in arms shot him looks that said. 'Don't ask.' Shu even made a slicing motion across his neck and pointed to the Ancient. Touma decided to let it be and continued into the kitchen. Inside the kitchen, Jun had a plate as well and was watching as Nasuti pulled another batch of muffins from the oven. Touma took a moment to enjoy the view. While Jun had gotten over his crush on the auburn haired girl, Touma had not. And with all other potential rivals out of the room, he was going to savor the moment. Shin caught where Touma's attention was and tried not to roll his eyes.  
  
"Welcome to day 40 in the quest to be the first to take Nasty on a date. I'm your host Mouri Shin." he muttered under his breathe. From Shin's facial expression, Nasuti seemed to know who had entered without turning around.  
  
"Touma," she said. "Could you grab that platter for me? The sooner I get these on there, the sooner we can eat." A joyous cry of "Hallelujah!" was heard form the dining room. Amid the laughter that followed, Rajura crept back downstairs to stand behind a preoccupied Naaza.  
  
"What did I miss?" Naaza jumped. "Don't do that!" Seiji shook his head and motioned for Anubis to follow him to the table.  
  
Once everyone was seated, Touma asked. "So what brings you guys here again so soon? Miss us already?" Naaza nodded his head. Kayura smacked him with a candle stick.  
  
"There's been a disturbance in the spirit world." She said shoving a piece of bacon in her mouth. Everyone groaned. Surely Kayura had not gotten them all worked up over THAT? There was always a disturbance there. Little woodland creatures seemed to have made it a game to go and frolic around the barriers sending The Ancient's sensors into battle mode. Five months ago, the disturbance had turned out to be a raccoon that had somehow waddled into the wrong part of the realms. Kayura had claimed that (1) she couldn't be held accountable for the fact that she had yet to gain complete control over her powers (meaning all alarms felt the same be they big or small) and (2) One should always be on one's guard because what was today a raccoon could tomorrow be a nether beast. Sensing the bored expressions she was receiving, she began to bristle. "Would you all be so judgmental if I told you it concerned our armors?" Now she had their attention, but she was going to make them bleed for it. Hefting a large amount of food on her fork, she shoveled it into her mouth as the others sweatdropped. Chewing she made everyone wait until she swallowed and took a sip of tea. "And that's all I'm saying until the meal is done so be patient." Everyone sweatdropped again and went back to eating. No one could help but notice how Rajura and Ryo competed over who could get Nasuti's attention and hold it more. It was almost cute except Touma was glaring daggers at both of them, changing to glare at Seiji who was trying to cheer Kayura up by flirting with her. Seeing that none of them were paying the glares any mind, he sat back and talked to Jun. Kayura grinned to herself as she finished her breakfast. Poor Touma, he just couldn't seem to win in the race for any of the contests going on over the females of the group. It was almost too cute. Kayura would have taken the time to flirt, but she was running out of food and had to make sure they understood the danger that awaited them. Swallowing her last bite, she sat back with a contented sigh. All eyes immediately came to rest on her.  
  
"Do you want me to tell you now or wait until everyone's done?" she asked.  
  
"Why don't you just tell us now?" Ryo said. "I doubt anyone's going to choke when they hear it." Kayura nodded and pulled her staff across her lap. "A few nights ago I was talking to Shuten-" Shu choked. Everyone looked at Ryo who raised his hands as if to ask 'How was I supposed to see that coming?' Kayura coughed. "If I may continue? I was talking to Shuten and he told me that things had been feeling funny around the spirit realm lately. And before anyone asks, he's in a different spirit world."  
  
"Are you sure he's just not used to being dead yet?" Anubis asked. Kayura was about to smack him, but Shin saved her the trouble. Nodding her head she continued as if he hadn't spoken.  
  
"Now, Shuten said that for the past few days, something has been causing rumbling earthquakes along the barrier separating his realm from our realm and yours. Since odd noises are semi normal, we both decided to let it slide. A few days later, my armor orb disappeared." Gasps were heard around the table. Armor orbs only disappear from where they are being kept for one of two reasons: either it has found a new bearer or Talpa calls it back. Kayura was pleased that they were now taking her seriously and went on.  
  
"The good news is that Shuten saw Talpa the other day. They keep him locked under heavy security so he can't break out. We're talking wards, guards, the whole she-bang. So I'm guessing that we will soon have a new bearer for the Armor of Cruelty. The question is who has it and where is that person?"  
  
Shu raised his hand. "I have yet to see why this required you to come bearing 'bad news'."  
  
"Because we have to find out who that person is so we can help him through the transition. We might need the Armor of Cruelty if the disturbances become a problem."  
  
"I still say it's nothing to get anyone worked up over. We find the guy, tell him about the armors, he either moves in with us or with you guys, we all get back to enjoying our summer." Cautious nods went around the table, signaling an agreement with the warrior of Hardrock's words. Proud of himself for making a valid point, Shu sat back and folded his arms, shooting Kayura a challenging look. Only the combined efforts of Touma, Naaza, and Nasuti offering another muffin kept Kayura in her chair. Sniffing, she daintily nibbled on it while thinking up ways she could skin Shu alive. Hoping to avoid any bloodshed in her dining room, Nasuti suggested they just get to work finding the new warrior so they could set Kayura's mind at ease.  
  
"Maybe if she didn't have to worry so much, she could turn her attention to other things." More than one head perked up at that comment. If they were not chasing after Nasuti, they were trying to get close to Kayura. Where Nasuti's charm and grace melted them at one end, Kayura's take no bull attitude stirred them at the other. Those who were not involved in the race just kept quiet and enjoyed the show. Seeing that hormones would soon send half of his brothers in arms sallying forth from the door, Shin suggested an end to breakfast. Jun volunteered to help clear the table. Shu volunteered to help as well but was told to help keep everyone from doing something stupid instead. The last time Shu had volunteered to help clear the table, he had tried to eat the leftovers. Shin was not going through that again. Everyone else, congregated in the study. Ryo and Seiji snagged spots standing next to Nasuti while Touma and Rajura got to sit next to Kayura on the sofa. Anubis was now the one left out and Shu couldn't care less-he saw the two as sisters. Naaza.No one was quite as to which, if either, of the two girls he was after. He was one moment protective big brother, jealous boyfriend the next. After a few moments of reviewing, Nasuti told them what she knew.  
  
"I had already come upon some of this before when you guys first asked about why you might have been chosen for your armors. So far I've found three ways that are the most usual. The first and main way, which applies to 99.9% of you, is by blood. If an ancestor of yours wore the armor, you have a high chance of having it passed down to you. Another way is through gifting, which is what happened with Kayura. The former bearer gives it to you. The restriction on this one is that the person must be pure of heart and good of spirit for it to happen. The third is that the armor finds someone who has the same qualities or personality and bonds with him/her." Nasuti chewed on her lip for a moment before adding. "While those are the usual and most traditional ways to gain armor, there is a fourth way, but it is highly unlikely." The others looked at her, waiting for the method. "The spirit of a previous owner is reborn within a new body. The person doesn't have to have the same physical appearance, just the spirit is enough." Shu voiced the thought on everyone's mind.  
  
"There goes summer vacation." 


	3. News flash

The Secret (Chapter 3)  
  
"When we find this new guy," Touma said. "Remind me to give him a piece of my mind." The others winced but understood his pain. Their latest prospect had called Touma a freaky weirdo and punched him in the stomach. Only the fact that it was a ten year old kid, and a girl at that, had saved her from an Arrow Shock Wave. It was Saturday once again at the Yagyu house. After three weeks of searching, they had yet to find Shuten's replacement. They had spent the time tracking down potentials and getting their butts kicked for it. Ryo still had nightmares of the other girl who they had visited. She had threatened bodily harm should she ever see him again.  
  
Whoever the person was, they were getting to be a pin to track down. First they considered the main method. The former Dark Warlords shot that idea out of the water.  
  
"Shuten had no family to speak of when we met him. And he never fathered any children." Rajura told them. Since Kayura had not given the armor to anyone, that only left the third possibility-Someone with Shuten's personality. In an effort to make the process easier, Kayura had done a scan of the cities within a 100 mile radius in both their realm and the Nether realm. The search had turned up four individuals. Four people who could wield the armor of Cruelty if it chose them. This last person made up person number three. If person number four was a flop as well, it had been agreed upon that Kayura would try to contact the Spirit realm and make sure Shuten was still there. Person number four had been a woman's unborn child. Kayura was now meditating in a nearby temple. The rest of the group waited outside in one lounging group. Nasuti and Jun leaned against a tree regaling each other with recounts of how their searches had gone. Shu was giving Shin a piece of his mind for sticking him in a group with Ryo and Seiji while the rest of the group laughed at his account of how it had gone. And Touma, Touma was with Byakuen, taking a nap in the shade. Ryo stood up and turned to his friends.  
  
"Guys, we have to keep our heads." Rajura snickered, Ryo glared at him until he shut up. "We'll find whoever the armor has chosen as its new bearer and then things will be ok. The disturbance is probably just some spirit's softball." Shu snorted and turned back to his narration of Ryo's fall from grace.  
  
"So then Ryo asks the girl if she has any funny red orbs she thought he should know about and -"  
  
"Talpa might be back!" Kayura burst from the temple, tripping over Seiji in her haste.  
  
"That's it!" Shu yelled jumping up. "Why can't you get your damned powers to work right?"  
  
"How dare you! My powers work fine!"  
  
Then why didn't you sense Talpa getting lose?"  
  
"I was getting to that part. If you'd shut up and let me!" Shu shut up. "Good, now where was I.oh! Now, I just had a talk with Shuten. And before you ask, he called me. Now, Talpa is still under lock and key. Barriers are in place, no problem, right? Get this, some kid in this realm began using magic to channel dark spirits, guess who he got." Groans were heard from all present. Kayura smiled sarcastically. "Don't worry, he's not out. But it gets even better. The kid didn't set Talpa free, he did something even better. He sucked all of Talpa's power out of him 'to make him repent his sins even more!' or so the story goes. To cut this story down, he cut a hole in the barrier and now carries all that power in an amulet. If something's not done, anything will be able to walk on through and become a problem. On top of that, Talpa's power is part of the reason he became demented. Anyone care to bet on the fate of some mortal kid walking around with enough power to make an A-bomb look like a firecracker? Backed by whatever source he draws magic from, the kid's a walking time bomb. All he needs is one bad incident to turn him. After that, it will be sit back and wait until he decides to join the dark side." Anubis chose that moment to choke on an acorn. Naaza calmly slapped him on the back as Ryo asked.  
  
"But if he's got Talpa's power, what does he plan to do with it, since he's good?" Kayura shrugged.  
  
"The only person who would have any idea would be Talpa. Shuten might also. But I'm the only one who can contact him." Shu chose that moment to have a brainstorm. "Hey! Didn't you say the barrier was weak right now? Maybe we would be able to talk to Shuten without any problems. Nasty could check on her computer!" Everyone stared at Shu in surprise. Nasuti shrugged and stood up.  
  
"I guess it's back to the house and up to the computer room?" she said. Ryo, of course, led the charge. Kayura stood back with Nasuti and watched.  
  
"Remind me, why do we put up with them again?" Nasuti turned to the only other female of the group and winked.  
  
"Because they make good eye candy." Kayura thought for a moment.  
  
"They do at that!"  
  
In the spirit realm, Shuten awoke from his meditation. If he went deep enough, he could look down at his friends and see how they fared. This time, he had been able to contact Kayura and stick around to sit in on their discussion following. Now, he went towards the edges of the realm. 'Maybe it will make things easier when they make their attempt to call.' He thought. "Maybe this will be my chance to tell her. Danger might stalk her every step otherwise."  
  
Still keeping everyone guessing, I'm soo wicked. Go ahead, review and see if you can guess what the secret is. (And no, this is not a Shuten/Nasuti story, it's an every other guy is flirting with either Kayura or Nasuti story with an actual plot.)  
  
Jan ne  
  
Empress Marie 


	4. You're What?

The Secret (Chapter 4)  
  
*DISCLAIMER* I wish I owned these characters. Then Ryo, Touma, and Seiji could be my own personal little harem boys and Nasty, Kayura and I could order them around all the live long day!  
  
The Secret (Chapter 4)  
  
Kayura and Nasuti returned to the house to discover the male occupants crowded around the computer. Jun sat on Byakuen's back (he's only grown about two inches) in an attempt to see over the sea of heads in front of him. The dialogue flying around the room made for good listening.  
  
"Ok Touma, we know you're good with computers and whatnot," Naaza said. "But shouldn't we leave this for Nasuti to do? She knows the most about where everything is." Touma shook his head and kept looking through her files. Sure Nasuti would know exactly where to begin looking, but Touma had an ulterior motive to his thinking. Nasuti and Kayura hung in the back and waited to hear it. Touma didn't disappoint them.  
  
"Why should Nasuti and Kayura have all the fun?" Touma said to his comrades in arms. "I mean, don't you think it's time we began to learn about this stuff without having to wait for one of the girls to tell us? By looking it up on our own, we also save her some time with all of the studying she is always doing. Think of what she would do with all of that new found free spare time." Touma trailed off as he watched the idea sink into certain heads. Spare time meant time she would now have free for dating. No more 'I'd love to, but I've got so much work piled up.' it would be a dream come true for most of the men in the room. Shu, Shin and Jun shook their heads in wonderment. Naaza didn't bother to shake his head; he vocalized his fear of all their sanity. Anubis still didn't do anything to show which side he was on. The blank expression on his face very nearly put even Seiji to shame. Nasuti smiled at Kayura and shook her head. It was time to make their presence known.  
  
"Need any help or are you guys fine by yourselves?" The men winced. Jun moved closer to Kayura as if to imply that he had nothing to do with anything. Of course it wouldn't take that long for the two ladies to get back to the house-Kayura only had to use her staff. All eyes turned to Touma to see what his response to this one would be.  
  
"Well it's easy. Nasty has to take Jun to that party at his friend's house in a few moments, so we'll just get a head start so she doesn't get caught up in her work and forget." When Nasty opened her mouth to object, Touma was ready for her. "Jun is only talking to either you or Kayura right now after that whole thing during the search, so maybe you can find out what the heck happened." This last was said with a look to the Jun, who looked at his feet. He had disappeared for nearly an hour and sent Naaza and Anubis into a full-fledged panic. Having been in the same group, Shin, Kayura, and Nasty had heard about the whole thing as it happened.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
The young man they had gone to see had owned a small movie rental store. While Shin and Nasty pretended to be looking for a hard to find rental, Kayura had done a quick scan, nothing. While he had the potential, he did not have the orb. The three soon left the store less a new warrior of Cruelty, but Kayura was happy because she got a copy of "Top Gun". Now they sat in a nearby park, waiting for the other groups to call in. Nasty had fallen asleep with her head and Shin's shoulder and Kayura was just leaning on him. Shin was watching some kids play ball. Truth be told, if no one called in, the group would have been quite happy. Seiji had already called to beg a partner switch because Shu spent more time trying to eat then paying attention to their mission. Ryo had called to say he was sick of Seiji baiting Shu; Shu had called to say that Ryo and Seji were being mean to him. Then had been Touma's group, Kayura shook her head. One would think it would have been simple enough to ask that he search with Rajura and Byakuen, but soon after departing, Touma was complaining that Rajura had tried to use an illusion to find the armor orb and freaked the guy out. No sooner had they gotten those two off of each others throats did Naaza call to ask if he could leave Jun with Nasty because he had begun to feel ill and neither he nor Anubis knew what to do with a sick child. Nasty had listened to Jun's description of how he felt and told them to get him some of 'the pink stuff, he knows what I mean.' Since then, Kayura had been all for smashing the communication orbs, but knew they needed them in case a potential turned out to be the person they were looking for.  
  
"Kayura? Pick up your orb, I know you're there." Naaza's voice broke into Kayura's thoughts. Nudging Shin, who woke up Nasty, she got out the orb and blew on it. Naaza's face appeared looking quite upset. Naaza never looked upset. Shin and Nasty became more alert. Naaza cleared his throat and began to speak.  
  
"Hi there, mmmm, well our person was not our new warrior and Jun's gone." Anubis's voice could be heard in the background saying it wasn't his fault. Nasty, Shin and Kayura sweat dropped.  
  
"What happened." Nasuti asked. She was still groggy from her nap and not in the mood to deal with this. The young woman had been feeling tired lately and slept more often than usual. Naaza felt bad to know that he had awakened her from a nap. Looking more uncomfortable than before, he explained.  
  
"Anubis and I turned our backs for one second to look at something, turned around and he was go-wait, Anubis found him." The sound of raised voices could be heard in the background and Naaza turned to show them Anubis holding Jun upside down by one leg. The boy looked tired and had dirt and chocolate smudges on his face and clothing. Naaza turned back to the orb and said. "We'll take him back to the house and get him cleaned up." The orb went smoky and Naaza's face disappeared.  
  
*End flashback*  
  
Since then, the boy had been surly whenever questioned about the incident. Other than that he was the same cheerful younger brother they all knew and loved. Still, the incident still had them worried. It had been agreed that since Nasty was the closest to him; she would be the one most likely to be told anything. Seeing that she was out smarted,Nasty gave in. Ryo smiled.  
  
"And now, since you cannot use the excuse of studying, it's off to bed with you. We don't want you falling asleep while you drive." Nasty nodded and left the room, understanding completely. While it was said in a joking manner, the guys and Kayura were very worried about Nasuti's illness. Kayura had mentioned it to Shuten during their last talk and he had seemed concerned as well.  
  
'Maybe a breathe of fresh air would do them both good." Kayura mused. Just then, Touma let out a shout.  
  
"I did it!" he jumped out of his chair and punched his fist in the air. While he was dancing around the room in celebration, Seiji took his place at the computer and read what he saw there.  
  
"Hey, this is double good news. But it could be bad as well so I wouldn't celebrate quite so quickly, Touma." Touma paused and looked at Seiji.  
  
"What do you mean, it's great news. We could bring Shuten back and ask him what he knows. Maybe he felt where the Ogre armor went." Seiji shook his head.  
  
"Did you read the rest before you started your little party?"  
  
"I hate to cut in on this little spat, but could you guys fill the rest of us in?" Shu said. Seiji nodded and pointed out a highlighted piece of text. Naaza read it aloud.  
  
"During times of weakened periods, a spirit in the spirit realm may not only communicate more freely with loved ones within the other realms, but is also able to be brought back to life and live with them again for an undetermined amount of time, usually for as long as they wish. Be cautious though, if your loved one can get free, so could anyone else-" Naaza broke off as Ryo bit off a curse.  
  
"Does that mean Argo could get out as well? Kami-sama! How many times do we have to kill that bastard? " Ryo continued to rant until Kayura hit him with a couch cushion.  
  
"Argo is under tight security," Kayura reminded him. "And he has no power what so ever. He's not going anywhere for a looooooong time." Ryo shut up. The group sat in the study refiguring their plans for a few more hours. When Nasty stopped in to say she was off to take Jun to his friend's party, they had decided to stick to the original idea of contacting Shuten. If he could actually be brought into their realm, the decision would be his and his alone. That issue settled, they had settled in the living room for a movie. They wanted to wait until Nasuti returned before starting dinner.At least everyone was trying to make sure Shu did.  
  
"And here I thought that within two years you guys would be able to come up with plans more quickly than that." An amused voice said. Eight heads shot up and looked around. Rajura was the first to spot Shuten hovering over them in a dark corner.  
  
"How long have you been eases dropping, Shuten?" he asked. The others looked at Rajura as if he had lost his mind. The former Warlord of Illusion merely pointed. Sure enough, Shuten's shape could be made out floating above them. Having gained everyone's attention, Shuten bowed before answering Rajura's question.  
  
"Long enough to know that the majority of you had ulterior motives to giving Nasuti more free time away from her computer." He said. More than one person became interested in something in the room. Ryo simply shrugged, Shin shook his head. Kayura laughed.  
  
"Surely you're not upset that you're not in the running," she said. "Or are you siding with Shin on this one?" Shuten would have strangled her for making such an assumption, but it wasn't her fault. She didn't know what her words implied because she had no idea how he felt towards Nasuti. He wondered how she would feel once she found out.  
  
"No, Kayura, I am not hoping to be in the race to seduce the Lady Nasuti. Actually, I'm wondering why no one has seen to her. With this new threat, she is in terrible danger. By the way, shouldn't she be back by now?" As if on cue, the door opened to admit a tired looking Nasuti. She closed the door and then leaned against it breathing heavily. Ryo, being the closet, rushed to her side and helped her to the seat Seiji had just vacated for her.  
  
"Nasty!" Shuten cried. He suddenly became solid and shoved his way to her side. Nasuti blinked to see Shuten alive and well in her living room before passing out. Pushing Seiji and Ryo's hands away from her, Shuten scooped her up and headed for the stairs. Shoving open the door to her room, Shuten made his way to her bed and had her settled in bed before the others could overcome their shock. By the time any of them moved, Shuten was already half way back down the stairs.  
  
"Of all the irresponsible things I have seen in my life time. Can't you people tell these things, or do you think everyone is like you?" he roared on his way down. "If she had been attacked while in this condition and harmed, so help me I would have ripped your innards out and served them to you as you bled to death!" In his anger, his face had become a red to match his hair. His green eyes held the flames of Hell, and would have sent lesser men (and woman) running for the hills. Instead he got a cushion in the face.  
  
"Shuten, we love you and we're all glad that you're in the land of the living again." Seiji began.  
  
"But don't ever assume that we don't care about what happens to Nasty again." Ryo finished.  
  
"I think he's over reacting. It's a touch of the flu at worst. She'll be fine." Shu added. "Can we eat now?" Shuten saw red.  
  
"She is not suffering the flu, you idiots!" his shouting was causing the floor to rumble. "She is bonding to the Ogre armor and it is not making it easy for her because she does not have the strength that you have!" Shuten began to walk towards the group in the living room and they all took a step backwards as he continued. "She is the new Warrior of Loyalty and she needs your help to make sure the process doesn't KILL HER!" exhausted from the energy spent being reborn and shouting, Shuten stomped into the kitchen and began helping himself to the dinner that had been lying in wait for Nasuti's return. The others followed him in shock. Shuten glared daggers at them all before tucking into the mountain of food in front of him.  
  
"You know," he said in between bites. "You never truly appreciate food until you go for two years without needing it. Do you think we could order a pizza? I never got a chance to try one of those last time I was here and Jun tells me they are truly something else." His friends stared at him in shock. He drops a bombshell on them and then sits down to eat as if it were an everyday occurrence. Ryo cleared his throat a couple of times and attempted to speak. It took him two tries and his voice still came out with a slight squeak.  
  
"S-Shuten, what did you mean about Nasty being the new Warrior of Loyalty? She didn't come up on the scan as a potential." The others nodded. Shuten put down his fork and sighed.  
  
"She didn't come up on that scan because it was the wrong one. Had Kayura bothered to do a bloodline scan, trust me, Nasty would have been your first, and if I'm not mistaken, only candidate." He resumed eating as they others absorbed this in. Shu was the first to voice a possibility.  
  
"Are you trying to tell us that you somehow impregnated Nasty?!" The others fell over in complete shock at the way Shu's mind worked. Shuten had to hold himself back from killing the Warrior of Justice.  
  
"No Shu no baka," Shuten gritted out. "As beautiful as she is, I don't do incest." Now everyone was truly confused.  
  
"You mean she's your sister? Aren't you guys a bit too far apart for that to be possible?" Seiji shook his head.  
  
"I believe that Shuten is now going to tell us the story of how one day during a trip into our realm, he met a lovely lady with whom he had a one night stand and the result was Nasty making her his only living heir." The others looked form Seiji to Shuten and back. Shuten made them wait. He purposely slowed down his eating and took minutes to bring a bite a food to his mouth, ignoring the waiting crowd at the table. After what felt like eternity (but was actually five minutes) he gulped down a can of soda and sighed with pleasure.  
  
"Aww, this root beer is truly the drink of the gods themselves." He said awestruck. Shu nodded his head in agreement.  
  
"Yes it is, and for allowing you to enjoy such a wonder, you're going to spill the beans before we are forced to beat them out of you." Shu rose as if to do just that, but Ryo stopped him. Eyes on Shuten's face the Warrior of Wildfire looked him over carefully.  
  
"Shuten, you're not Nasty's father, are you?" Shuten shook his head. Half the men in the room let out the air they were holding in. Glad that they would not have a raging father on their hands, ready to curb the obvious flirtation and innuendos. Shuten smiled as he dropped his second bomb of the evening.  
  
"I'm her many times removed Great-Grandfather. And for the record, Naaza, I don't appreciate you accidentally killing my great-grandson before I even knew who the hell he was, but I am willing to forgive you as you were under Argo's control." Eight shocked cries of  
  
"SHE'S YOUR WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" rang throughout the house, waking Nasuti up. The young woman climbed out of bed and made her way downstairs to find a very strange, but comical sight. Shin and Kayura leaned against the cabinets, tears streaming down their faces as they laughed at the scene in front of the table. Even Byakuen seemed to be chuckling. And the cause of this laughter-Ryo, Seiji, Touma, and Rajura on their knees begging for their lives in front of-  
  
"Shuten? You really are back!" Nasty walked up to him and slapped him. "Why the HELL didn't you tell me before or do you always try to kill your family!?"  
  
  
  
Aw, how many of you truly saw that coming? Don't lie now. Einway, this is really long, so it might be a few more days before I can get another chapter uploaded. Things will kind of calm down for a few, and then speed back up.  
  
Ja ne!  
  
Marie, the Empress half. 


	5. What Shuten did for his summer vacation

I have only one thing to say before I get on with this: Please REVIEW! Reviews are good and they let me know what readers think, and sometimes they hold nice tidbits of advice. So if anyone has a suggestion (that does not involve who Nasuti or Kayura will/should get with) feel free to post them. I have no problem with any type of review except flames. I have low tolerance to stupid comments made for the sake of proclaiming why a certain couple is the best in the world. Yes I am aware of who likes whom (despite what others may think) but this is a pre-anyone with anyone fic and I seriously doubt I will ever write a Nasuti/anyone or a Kayura/anyone (I leave that for Nissa; she's the romantic side of this combo). At the most I foresee a lot of guys and girls flirting back and forth until Nissa finally decides to write one that involves any type of dating between anyone. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, on with the show!  
  
DISCLAIMER: This is the 'real world'. That means I still don't own anyone and in the series Shuten still dies and the show is cut off too soon and the dub still sucks in the dialogue department.  
  
WARNING! In this scene is my version of why Shuten joins Talpa. It is in no way the actual way it happened and only done to help the story, so please don't bash me or skin me for it (you know who you are). Remember, I personally send thank you notes to people who review, so let's keep them nice ones, ok?  
  
The Secret4 (or An Interesting Family Tree)  
  
Shu sat down at the table and began fixing himself a plate. The others looked at him with shocked looks of disbelief.  
  
"What?" he said. "Nasty's down here now and I need food to help me digest all of this new information. Speaking of which, Nasty, how long have you known Shuten was family?" Nasty turned from cursing out Shuten and shaking him to blink at Shu.  
  
"Shuten's been family for as long as the rest of you have been family. And though we're not blood, I wouldn't think he'd attempt to kill me by giving me his damned armor." Nasuti paused as she took in the confused faces of her friends. "What?" Seiji stepped forward and slipped an arm around her waist.  
  
"Nasty," he said gently as he led her to a chair. "Tell us why you just nearly killed Shuten." Nasuti looked at him as if he had lost his mind and shrugged.  
  
"Ok, you all know how I've been feeling ill lately." Everyone nodded. Shuten glared at them. "Well on my way back from dropping Jun off I got this feeling. Something was telling me to look inside. I had no idea what the hell it was and decided I would tell the rest of you about it when I got home. And what do I see once I walk in the door? Shuten floating in the air over my living room. The feeling hit again and that's when I passed out." Nasuti stopped again to accept the plate Shin had handed her. "Thank you. So, while I was out I had this dream. I was sort of a spectator to the armor orb leaving Kayura and flying off. Then I was suddenly in the orb and talking to the armor. That damned thing actually walked around me as if I were some type of race horse! Then it stops in front of me again and says 'Under normal circumstances I would not do this, but things as they are, I will need a new bearer for Shuten's time with me has past. He has passed me on to you, though unwillingly. I talked him into it but I did not know how badly in need of training you were. That is not a problem though, I am sure we can count on the others to help you out, hmm?' While I stood there like a retard, the armor made itself at home. That's when I heard you guys yelling and woke up to find this in my hand." Nasuti reached in the pocket of her jeans to pull out the armor orb for the Armor of Orge. "As sweet and thoughtful as that was, Shuten, I'm not a fighter. We all know that. Friends don't let friends they consider family commit suicide." She attempted to toss the orb to Kayura but it flew right back into her own hand. Frowning at it, she tried giving it to Shuten this time. It came back again. Nasuti frowned again and looked at the assembled people.  
  
"Someone care to explain this? And while that person is at it, explain what the hell you guys were talking about before." All eyes turned to Seiji. The blonde warrior blinked then shrugged.  
  
"They must figure I'm least likely to be murdered." Seiji thought to himself. Aloud he said. "Nasty, we just found something out from Shuten that clears everything up. Since this is Shuten's atom bomb, I call he should tell you himself."  
  
"And while he's at it, explain when and how it happened." Anubis muttered. Shuten groaned and sank into his chair. Telling the others was one thing. Telling a girl you were only two years older than that you are her many times removed great-grandfather was another.  
  
"Better just get it over with. The sooner that's over, the sooner she rants at you and the sooner you can get down to business." Shuten took a deep breathe and began. "Nasty, you might want to sit do-oh right, you're already sitting. Let me start at the beginning. I didn't give you the armor because of our friendship. (I could have left it with Kayura had that been the case.) Let me ask you this, how much do you know about your family's history?" Nasuti blinked.  
  
"I know pretty far back. Why?"  
  
"Do you know of your ancestor Aiko?" Nasuti nodded. Shuten's face grew soft as he became lost in memory. "'Little loved one', she was that indeed. Your ancestor and I were lovers. It began before I joined Talpa, before any of this. Her father didn't think I was worthy, though, so it was more of an incentive to listen to Talpa when he came for me. I wanted to show Aiko's father that I could amount to something. So I went to see her one last time with a promise that I would return in full splendor to marry her and take her away. What I didn't know was that it would not only be the last time I saw her, but that I had also left a gift with her to remember me by. A son she named Toshi, because she said he looked so much like me it broke her heart. I found all of this out years later, after he had grown into a man. I had returned after many years, and found out that in my absence her father had married her to a rich man in Tokyo. I tracked her down and she gave me the news hoping it would hurt me. It did. My own flesh and blood never knew me and I never got a chance to watch him grow, teach him about his heritage, nothing. Her last request was that I not involve her son in my evil ways. So I left, promising to never mention them again. Then I met you." Shuten stopped and looked closely at Nasty. "You got the hair from me, but the eyes from her. Good genes all around, they're what tipped me off. To get back to the story, I didn't know at first if it would have been wise to assume the Nasuti was one of my descendants. Having hair almost the same shade as mine and the same eyes of her ancestor don't make grounds to invite her to a family reunion. So I held my tongue and waited. Then, when Talpa had returned for a second time, I snuck into her office in the middle of the night and read through the family history. Sure enough, there they were my love and our son. Nasuti is his direct descendant, making her my direct descendant and heir to my armor." By this point everyone was staring at Shuten blank faced. Nasuti calmly stood up, bowed to everyone at the table, patted Shuten on the head, and exited through the kitchen door. A few minutes later a long, loud stream of cursing was heard.  
  
"You suspected all this time and yet you still tried to kill me! What kind of fucking great-grandfather are you anyway? And to top it all off, you don't even look like a grand father! What the hell am I supposed to tell my children! "Kids, this is Grandpa Shuten, don't mind the fact that he only looks a few years older than Mommy, he's really over four hundred years old and has a good plastic surgeon. Oh yeah kids, and one day, he might decide to pass his armor on to you. What armor, ok kids, this may take a while so sit down and let mommy tell you how she met your uncles.Of course a man would do this to me. Kayura wouldn't do this to me. MEN SUCK!!!!" All of the guys winced then glared at Shuten. Shuten looked around the tab;e and raised his hands.  
  
"What did I do?"  
Yes, it is rather cheesy and probably sent some of you racing for the nearest toilet. Give me a break, I've got another half in here who has been complaining that she wants a chance to write as well so it might be awhile before a new chapter pops up.  
  
Ciao,  
  
Marie, the Empress half. 


	6. Shopping cures all ills

Chapter 6(Time for training!)  
  
Kayura woke up the next morning before anyone else and decided to go meditate before the 'herd', as she termed the guys, came down. The decision had been that everyone would get a good night's sleep then discuss this new turn of events the next day. Kayura felt it would be more like a UN hearing. Passing by the kitchen, she noticed the smell of cheese omelets mingling with the sweet aroma of blueberry muffins.  
  
"Well, a little snack wouldn't hurt." She thought to herself. Then she giggled. "I'm beginning to sound like Shu!" Pushing open the door, she was about to say a greeting when she stopped. Standing at the stove was Nasuti, beating a bowl of eggs as if she could kill them by stirring.  
  
"ummm, Nasty?" Kayura whispered. "Would it be ok if I asked for a muffin? I'll be out of your hair afterwards." she trailed off as Nasty grabbed a knife and turned towards her with murder in her eyes. Seeing that it was only Kayura, she lowered her arm.  
  
"Sorry about that, thought you were one of the guys, ready to have our 'talk.'" Nasuti muttered a few other words under her breathe that Kayura couldn't hear, but she thought she caught the phrase. 'Damn their hides' in there somewhere. Kayura could understand how Nasuti felt. After all, unlike anyone else, she had never expected to fight. The others had either held their armors for hundreds of years and were raised in societies that taught fighting from the cradle, or the armor had been held in the family and they knew fighting techniques from before. She herself had been practically raised to fight. But Nasuti, her life had been turned upside down from the moment she first went out to help the Troopers during the first war. Since then, she had lost her grandfather, been scared, watched her friends nearly be killed, and much more than your average girl. And now to have this dropped on her, Kayura was somewhat surprised it had not turned out to be the feather that broke her back.  
  
"Hey," Kayura said softly. "After breakfast, you wanna go shopping?" She laughed as Nasuti's eyes lit up with their usual sparkle. If anything could cheer her up, it was a trip to the mall and Kayura knew just how to make it even sweeter. "It's settled then, I'm going to go meditate before Seiji steals the good spot again." As if summoned by her comment, the two heard a door open and close upstairs, signaling that Seiji was awake. His head popped into the kitchen just in time to see Kayura dart out the back door with a muffin in each hand.  
  
"Oh no you don't!" Seiji cried, before taking off after her. Nasuti laughed and went back to cooking. Ever since that first time Seiji had discovered Kayura in what he called 'his special meditation spot' it had become a race whenever she and the ex-Masho visited. There was even a bet going around as to what the final outcome of it all would be. If anything, Nasuti took it as a hint that things might stay somewhat the same considering this new bomb that had been dropped on them all.  
  
Breakfast was a somewhat quiet affair with Seiji glaring at Kayura only to stop when he saw Ryo sigh and hand over some money to Naaza who laughed and mouthed 'told you' to the now grumpy warrior of Wildfire. Shu was working his way through a third omelet that he had snatched from Ryo after Rajura had taken his, a theft witnessed only by Shin who groaned and shook his head. The others were talking with Shuten, Touma asking what it was like in the Spirit realm while Cale told him probed for more questions regarding his affair from long ago. Nasuti barely said more than 'good morning' to anyone which was never a good thing. In all, they were waiting to see who would be the one to open the can of worms no one was quite sure they wanted to touch. By the time someone finally got the courage to clear his throat, Nasuti had stood up.  
  
Kayura looked at her and said. "I'll be just a second. We taking your car or mine?"  
  
Nasuti shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. But my jeep has more room than your Civic."  
  
Kayura nodded as she shoveled the last bite of omelet in her mouth. "Good point. OK, I'm done, let's go!" The others looked at the two in shock. Taking advantage of it, the two women raced upstairs and grabbed their purses. Kayura took a bit longer than Nasuti and came down to face a confused group of men. "Oh, sorry, I'm taking Nasty on a shopping trip to settle her nerves. She needs it, trust me."  
  
"And how do we know that you are not just using this as an excuse to exercise your own credit card?" Touma asked.  
  
Kayura smiled. She had been waiting for this. Reaching into her bag she pulled something out and exclaimed. "Because we're going to be using you're credit cards! That should be more than enough for both of us!" Nasuti burst into laughter as she realized what had been keeping Kayura so long. In her hands she held eight gold cards each with a limit of at least $500 (about 59,085 yen). Looks of disbelief crossed the faces of all present.  
  
"And just why are you going to spend our money? We worked our asses off for those." Shu said.  
  
"Easy, you guys are the reason she needs this trip, therefore you should help in the getting her back to her cheerful self. You all want Nasuti to cheer up, don't you?" Kayura had them there. 'Hook, line and sinker!' she declared to herself. Linking an arm through Nasuti's she herded the still laughing young lady out the door. The others stood there.  
  
Touma finally broke the silence. "Am I the only one who hates it when Kayura makes sense?" A chorus of 'you're not alone' was the reply.  
  
"The only thing left to do now is sit around and wait for the girls to get back." Shin said. "I'll take the dishes. Someone think of something non strenuous we can do until then."  
  
Shu looked confused for a moment. "Why can't we do something strenuous?"  
  
"Because, oh forgetful one, we're going to be expected to be eagerly waiting when their royal highnesses return with their mountain of shopping bags." Rajura answered.  
  
Shu paled. "Oh God, I had forgotten." He said glaring at Ryo. The last shopping trip had been set off by the hot head's comment that Kayura had only been a threat because they were too gentlemanly to actually hit a girl. The result had been five bags for each male to carry. "I vote Shuten to handle it for all of us. It's his fault anyway." Shuten gulped as all eyes turned towards him with speculative looks.  
  
"He looks well rested enough for it." Seiji supplied. The others nodded.  
  
"And maybe this will teach him to better communication skills." More nods. Shuten was now looking rather green. He backed up only to encounter an unmoving wall. Looking behind him he was met with Ryo's smiling face.  
  
"Don't worry; we'll make sure you're all prepared for the onslaught. Right guys?" A circle of grins was his answer. Shin came out of the kitchen later to discover a sight that could only be called a Kodak moment. Tied to the coat rack next to the door stood a gagged Shuten dressed in a bellhop outfit. A sign had been placed around his neck that read. 'Here for your package carrying pleasure. The more the merrier.' Behind him came the sounds of a video game in full championship mode. Waving to Shuten who had begun making pitiful noises behind the gag, Shin walked down the stairs to the den. Seated in a circle around the TV screen were his comrades cheering on Rajura and Shu as they duked it out.  
  
"Like what you did with Shuten. Who's wining?" Sin said as he sat down next to Anubis.  
  
The blue haired man shrugged. "Shu's idea if you can believe it. I think Rajura's winning." 


	7. Teaser Preview

Note: Hey, question for my readers-what do you get when you mix a week of exams, an anime convention, Karate classes, stomach virus, and an anniversary weekend? Answer: You get the past couple of weeks for me. I'm semi-back now and ready to get writing. Also look out for Nissa (The Author half) to add a new chapter(s) to "Destiny Interrupted" as well. Until then I leave you all with a short teaser chapter of things to come.  
  
DISCLAIMER: Can you believe? I still don't own either YST or RW, go figure.  
Chapter7  
  
Nasuti hummed to herself as she handed over Touma's card to yet another beaming store clerk. Her feet were killing her, the car was full to bursting, and the credit cards were down to about 11,744.55 Y (about $100.00) but damn if she didn't feel better. Kayura had even suggested they got out for some quality girl time later that evening as well and Nasuti was all for it. Humming some more, she took the card back from the store clerk and took her bags from him.  
  
"And a wonderful day to you as well!" she called back to him. The store clerk nodded and waved. Thanks to the young lady and her friend, he was in for a big bonus this weekend. Maybe he should take his wife out for a night on the town.  
  
Kayura ran to catch up with Nasuti, stumbling beneath the weight of her own bags. She had had no intentions of buying anything for herself, but once Nasuti had begged and pleaded saying she deserved an award herself.It had been too hard to resist. Now they only had one more shop to hit and then they would go home. Kayura arched her back and stretched as she and Nasuti loaded their bags into the jeep. Looking at her friend the two shared an evil grin.  
  
"You ready?" Nasuti said.  
  
"Whenever you are." Kayura replied.  
  
Pumping her fist into the air Nasuti shouted. "Onward to Frederick's of Hollywood!" and the shopping continued.  
  
?????????????????????????????????????? Elsewhere in the mall, a young man walked down the aisles of a bookshop, pondering his dilemma. When he had sapped the evil demon of his powers, he had thought it would be for the good of everyone. But now he could feel the power pulsating within him like a second heartbeat. Voices whispered to him about the good they could do if he would only let it help him. He wanted to do good things, but what if it was wrong? In the movies there is always some villain who thinks what he is doing is right and would be for the world's benefit. How would he know that he was not doing the same thing? It was all too confusing.  
  
"Why can't you just stay quiet? You are never going to be free to do evil ever again. I will see to it." He whispered.  
  
The voice inside chuckled. "Ah young fool, you seek to do what others have failed at. You also see shadows where there is light. I only wish to help you in you endeavors. Let me help you. We could bring much joy to the world.No one would have to suffer anymore. No more pain for anyone. We could bring peace."  
  
"NO! There cannot be life without both joy and sadness. You will not twist me as you did that poor demon. As soon as I find the spell I'm looking for I will expel you once and for all." He had tried to send the evil power into a dark realm where it would be destroyed before, but the spell had been too weak. So he had to try again with a more powerful spell. He could probably ask the help of the ones who expelled the demon he got the power from, but they might kill him on site and say it was for his own good. Once again the young boy questioned his recent actions. 


	8. First battle

Hi there folks! *ducks as missiles are launched at her* Heh, yeah, I saw that some people were wondering just when I planned to continue this. Truly sorry, school, go figure. This picks up where the teaser left off and goes on from there. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy!  
  
DISCLAIMER: I had this dream where I owned Samurai Troopers, and then I woke up to the reality where I don't.  
  
Chapter 8 or Meet the new evil dude!  
  
"Yes!" the happy cry caused several faces to turn and look at the boy who was now jumping for joy in front of a shelf of books in the New Age section. In his hand was a blue book with symbols in gold sprinkled on its face. Leaping with joy inside, the boy raced to the cash register to pay for his find.  
  
The lady behind the counter did little to show her disapproval for his choice. "Yes, how may I help you, young man?" she asked.  
  
"I'm ready to make my purchase, ma'am."  
  
"Are you sure you want to buy that book? We have things much more suitable for a person your age."  
  
"No, thank you, but this book is the one I was looking for."  
  
The store clerk rang up his purchase, but not without a muttered. "Younglings these days." The young boy replied with a false grin and paid for his book. As he turned to leave, the lady called out. "Ya know, in my day, young folks listened when their elders suggested reading material for them. They didn't go around reading trash like that. I wonder about what your parents have taught you." The boy froze in his tracks. People could say all they wanted about him and his interests, but no one talked badly about his parents. His parents were picture perfect and very open minded. Who did this lady think she was? As the boy's anger grew, so did the rhythm of the power's pulse. It grew in strength and rhythm until it formed a shadow around the boy; cloaked him in darkness. It finally hit a breaking point and flared out to blast through the windows of the shop, spewing glass five feet across the mall.  
  
The darkness inside of him eagerly waited. "Yes, make him angrier. Make him rage!" The boy's anger grew in time with the pulse until the cloaking around him formed a miniature version of Argo's floating head. The other customers in the store ran from the store in a rush, tripping over each other and crying out in fear. People outside the store had already cleared away when the windows had first burst outwards. The floating head smiled at the chaos he had caused as he slowly took over the boy's movements.  
  
"NO!" The boy cried in his mind. "What are you doing? Stop!"  
  
The darkness chuckled. "You wanted to hurt her for insulting your parents, didn't you? I'm just helping you out. After we're through with her, she will learn to watch her damned mouth." Shutting out the sounds of the boy's outraged cries, the floating head advanced on the now cowering sales clerk. A disemboweled hand reached out towards her throat. The clerk had begun to see her life flash before her eyes when it encountered a sword-A sword that was in the hands of a very pissed off Kayura.  
  
"I don't know who the hell you are-" Kayura began. "No, wait, I have a good idea who you are, but that's beside the point. You, bastard, have just ruined a perfectly refreshing shopping trip." Jumping away from the confused (but relieved) sales clerk, Kayura faced the floating head. "I am Lady Kayura, last of the Ancients. I'm assuming you are the boy who took Arago's power?"  
  
The floating head silently looked her over as if trying to remember who Argo was. "Ah yes, you were our prized pupil." A croaked grin spread across its face. "Do us the honor of joining us. With this new vessel, we will make this world a better place. Where there is no sorrow or pain. We only want to do good things. Please help us?" Kayura had taken a step back. She was trying to buy some time for Nasuti who was creeping towards the store clerk. Armor bearer she may now be, Nasuti only had some training in the jitte, and none in the kasuri-gama. Now was not the time for her to be engaged in battle. She tried to peek at her friend from the corner of her eye. Just a few more seconds.Where in the hell were the rest of the armor bearers when they were TRULY needed?  
  
Nasuti prayed to every god and goddess she had ever heard about as she crept to the sobbing woman a few feet away. Kayura's entrance had distracted the floating head's attention, but it was only a matter of for how long.  
  
"Just a bit further.There!" she whispered to herself as she finally came to hide behind the counter with the clerk. Touching her sleeve gently, Nasuti put a finger to her lips and motioned to the woman to follow her. It had the makings of a perfect escape.meant to fail. Nasuti poked her head form behind the counter to see Kayura and the head locked in a glaring contest separated by their interlocked swords-swords? Where had the head gotten swords? Shaking her head, Nasuti decided it would be better to worry about that AFTER she got the clerk to safety. The words she had said before became a repeated mantra in her head 'Just a bit. Just a bit.Just a b-' Nasuti's thoughts were cut off by the blade that now sat deeply embedded in the shelf in front of her. Turning her head, her eyes met the gapping smile of the floating head.  
  
"Dare I actually believe it? On of the armors has dropped into my lap so easily?" The floating head turned back to Kayura who was climbing to her feet. A broken display behind her revealed how the head had lost interest in the distraction. "You truly thought you could hide this one from me, didn't you? You silly fool! I was once a part of Arago. I can sense the armors just as he could. I AM the reason he could sense them as he could." Turning back to Nasuti, it flicked its gaze over to the trembling clerk. "I guess I could be kind since you have actually done some good in your narrow- mindedness. Run now, before I change my mind." The clerk needed no further incentive and ran off as if the floating head HAD changed its mind. Returning to the matter at hand, the head regarded the two prizes that could help or ruin his plans. Kayura would have to be brainwashed again for it to work. In truth, it sounded like too much trouble if there was no way of knowing whether she could be turned back again. However, this new bearer of the Armor of Loyalty.she could be easily brainwashed and a worthy tool to use against the others. No one would want to hurt the fair Nasuti. Maybe it was a good thing the Masho had failed to kill her before. Still, that left Kayura as a problem.No matter, she would just have to be disposed of. Decision made, the head unleashed a healthy jolt of Black lightening at Kayura, knocking her back into the display. Before she could raise her hand, the head was on her, pumping more lightening bolts into her. Nasuti watched in horror as each jolt caused the Ancient to jerk in pain. Not a sound came from her lips, but Nasuti could see a thin line of blood trickling from the corner of her closed lips and knew Kayura was biting her cheek to keep from crying out.  
  
"I can't just sit here and let Kayura take the brunt of it all." She thought worriedly to herself. "But what can I do? I have no training and I might just get in the way.Snap out of it Nasty! You're sounding like Ryo on a bad day." Nasuti took a deep breath. She might not have much training with her armor's weapon, but she had some training with Kayura's weapon. In addition, she could at least keep the head away from her and buy her some time to call the others. Making a dash, she scooped up the Star Swords. The head had not even moved. It just sat there, staring at her with interest.  
  
"You, who barely know your powers, would attempt to take me on?" It asked incredulously. "You, Yagyu Nasuti, who I am even now trying to puzzle out how you got the armor away from Kayura, would fight against me? And for what? Join me. We can build a world that does not need the troopers. They will all be able to live normal lives, without worry or care. We can wipe out the stain Arago visited upon this realm." A disembodied hand reached out to her. "Think of it." the voice whispered seductively. Nasuti shook her head, a short, quick jerk form side to side. The head grew angry. "Have it your way, regardless, you will help me help this boy!" With that, the head seemed to grow. It filled the store with shadows that took on the shape of youma. "Get me that girl!" the head screamed.  
  
"Naste! Throw me your weapon!" Kayura called from her side. Looking over, Nasuti saw that Kayura had gotten to her feet and was now standing beside her, hand held out. "You know how to fight with my weapon and I've fought with yours before. I'd say that about evens the odds, don't you think?" Nasuti nodded but still looked confused. Kayura had no time to instruct her on how to call just her weapon because a youma choose that time to attack. Kicking it in the face, Kayura called out to her. "Throw your hand up and think of your weapon being there." Nasuti did as she was told, then tossed it to Kayura. The Ancient grabbed it out of the air and met a charging youma with the blade. Kayura would have preferred that Nasuti not fight this battle but it appeared they had been given no choice. Even without Arago to guide it, his power seemed to have a life of its own. Well, now was not the time to ponder it as the youma had wasted no time in following the head's orders. Nasuti had already taken down two without her help. Kayura allowed herself a split second of pride in her accomplishments before directing her own attention to her opponents.  
  
The last of the youma were dispatched in swift time leaving the two once again facing the floating head. Grinning down at them it spoke again.  
  
"So, little Nasuti is not so weak anymore. That is good; it means you will make a fine warrior. I have no place for weaklings. Now! Return to me, my armor!" Nasuti screamed as a red glow surrounded her. She began to rise in the air, still screaming, and move towards the head. Kayura jumped after her and grabbed onto Nasuti's foot only to let go when her hand was burned. Calling in her staff, she slammed it against the floor, sending the rings clanging.  
  
Back at the Yagyu estate, the guys' feelings of unease had taken a different turn. What had started as unease over how many bags the girls would be bringing home had morphed into something akin to eating Shu's cooking.  
  
"I say we should call their cell phones and check on them." Shu said.  
  
"Yeah, and what will you say when Kayura chews you out for interrupting their shopping spree because we got paranoid?" Touma tossed back. The others nodded. If nothing was wrong, they would find themselves wishing Arago had succeeded in his quest once Kayura and Nasuti got done with them. But if something were wrong.The stress of worrying caused even Seiji to get agitated. The young swordsman had since gone outside to meditate; hoping it would relax him. Shin, on the other hand, took a very unShin-like route. He had beaten the air out of a nearby basketball and was now beating the snot out of tree in the back yard. Naaza was grumbling and pacing. So was Ryo. They went on like this for a bit before a thud in the living room sent them dashing for the stairs. Shuten glared at them from the floor where he struggled to break free of his bindings. Unfortunately for him, they had been made by his comrades and meant that he would not get free unless he called his armor or they set him free. The gag had been worked loose, though, and he screamed obscenities at them.  
  
"Get these fucking things off of me! Nasuti is in trouble! We have to get to the mall!" The tension levels in the room grew. Footsteps rushing towards the door grabbed their attention as a one. But when the door crashed open, it was Seiji who stood their, panting and haggard.  
  
"They're still gone." It was a statement, flatly said by a voice devoid of emotion, only tiredness. Shuten growled form the floor, bringing their attention back to his words.  
  
"Untie him so he can explain." Ryo said. Rajura and Anubis let him loose, earning snarls from Shuten as he rubbed the circulation back into his wrists.  
  
"As I was saying before Seiji burst in here," Shuten snapped. "Nasuti and Kayura are in trouble. We have to get to this mall."  
  
Before the others could respond, Seiji made a choking sound. "Naaza, your forehead." Sure enough, Naaza's kanji was glowing as were those of Rajura and Anubis.  
  
"Arago's call." Anubis said quietly. Shuten nodded. The others looked confused so Anubis continued. "He is calling one of us. I can't tell who though. If it's a general call, then we can withstand it, we're stronger now. Plus we're all here and accounted f-" Anubis cut off as the blood drained from eight other faces. Yes, three of the Season armors were accounted for. But one was not, and the bearer was untrained.  
  
"Shit! Naste!" Rajura said. They were in the cars faster than Byakuen catching squirrels in the woods.  
  
It was on route to the mall that the next cause of unease happened. Kayura's had soon joined Nasuti's screams of agony. The young Ancient's screams mingled with those of Nasuti, as she attempted to fight the power holding her friend. What had at first appeared to be a break in the spell had spilled down the staff to knock into Kayura where she held on. Tendrils separated from Nasuti to cloak Kayura as well sending both women into crushing pain. Their friends were now feeling the combined force of both. All except Shuten who sat in horror and watched as his fellow Ex-Masho and the Troopers withered on the floor of the car. 


End file.
